Tears Are Prayers Too
by cococrazy4109
Summary: Two years ago, Indiana Leason's life took an uabrupt twist upon finding out that some things that go bump in the night are real, and not just stories. Her younger sister, Karen, took the revelation better, in the sense where she decided to become a hunter and kill as many as those evil bastards as possible. But now she's missing and it's up to Indiana to find her. Eventual Dean/OC
1. Chapter 1: The Worst Begging's

"This is Dean's other, other cell so, you must know what to do."

The sound of beeping filled the motel room and Indiana hesitated before speaking, voice trembling softly.

"Hey, this is Indiana. Indiana Leason. Look, I don't know if you remember me. We met a few years back on a hunt and you told me to call if something ever came up," she breathed deeply. This was a new low for her, asking another hunter for help. Especially if that hunter happened to be Dean Winchester. Yes, he was good at what he did, but he also had a tendency to leave a string of deaths wherever he went. Or so she'd heard- somewhere.

Still, she needed the help. With three deaths on her shoulders and still no lead on what caused them, Indiana was way out of her depth.

And then there was Karen, but she couldn't think about her. Not here, not now.

"I need help," she continued, the words having trouble escaping her mouth. "I'm in West Virginia, so if you're in the area...give me a call." She hung up.

Indiana awaited his answer impatiently, hating herself every time she checked the phone. If he wanted to call, he'd call, and no amount of stressing out was going to change that.

What she could however do was take a shower and get the day's sweat off her body, not to mention the tears. Plus, warm water tranquilized the mind, or so she'd read.

Shooting the screen one last glance she grabbed a towel. If there were no new missed calls when she was done, then and only then, she'd try calling him again.

Sighing, she shuffled to the bathroom, leaving the door ajar. She'd still need to hear the phone if it rang, she told herself as a way of consolidation. It had nothing to do with being afraid, nothing at all.

The water hit her back, instantly warming up her whole body, feelings of patheticness settling in as a new wave of anguish and tears hit her.

It was then, with a tear stricken face and a patched voice, that the phone decided to ring.

"Fudge!" Indiana grunted, because swearing was a sin, and she did not sin, as she turned the tap off and wrapped a towel around her arms, grateful for a distraction.

She scrambled to the phone, picking it up a bit breathless as she held the cloth in a tighter knot, wiping her face and sniffling her nose.

"Hello?" She said, looking around for her shoes. The floor was very cold and not a pleasant feeling at all to her exposed feet. Didn't this place have heating? At all?

"Indiana?" Dean's voice called from the other side. "You okay?"

She laughed nervously, clearing her throat in the process. "Yeah I'm fine, you just caught me getting into the shower," She explained and then frowned upon realising what just came out of her mouth. Seriously? He did not need to know that!

"Right, I meant the phone call," He said slowly.

"Oh, that. There's a case here, in Virginia, and I kind of need your help." Not a complete lie in her defense, but a somewhat omitted and changed variation of the truth.

"Case? Since when do you hunt?"

She ran her spare hand through her hair. "I don't, not really-it's complicated." That was an understatement. "Look, can you come or not?"

There was some muffled talking on the other side before he agreed, informing her he'll be there first thing tomorrow morning.

"There's a park near where I'm staying. Little Beaver State Park, Beckley. I'll meet you there."

Once disconnected she let out a long puff of air. Time to finish that shower then.

* * *

The following morning Indiana was perched on a park bench, hair a mess and outfit crumpled. She kept forgetting to iron it, and the creases, although barely noticeable, bothered her.

Dean spotted her almost immediately, the park didn't have a lot of visitors.

"That's her," He signaled to Sam. His brother had been hesitant to come, insisting they had more troublesome things to do than helping a fellow hunter. They still needed to find their MIA father after all.

But they had no current leads, Dean had argued back. And Indiana wasn't a hunter the last time-and only time-he'd seen her, so basically they were just on a normal case where, coincidentally, they knew someone. Well, Dean did, Sam had been at Stanford at the time.

"Hey," He says, approaching the blonde.

"Dean!" She exclaimed, face lighting up when she saw him. She went in for a hug but decided last minute to shake his hand, resulting in what ended up looking like a weird handshake she didn't want to think back on, ever.

"And you must be Sam," she greeted the younger Winchester, smiling. She'd never seen him in person, but his reputation preceded him like his brother's. And the deaths, so many deaths. But she tried to skim past that part.

"I'm Indiana Leason, an...acquaintance of your brother per se."

"Nice to meet you," Sam frowned unsurely, but reached out and shook her hand nevertheless. His handshake went by more smoothly and Indiana internally praised herself before realising how pathetic what she was doing was.

"So, what's going on?" Dean asked, straight to the point as always. Or so Indiana deducted, she didn't know him well enough to say, but he seemed like the type.

"Right," she clasped her hands together. "There's this case we've been working on, and, honestly, I'm swamped. I have no clue what I'm hunting," She sighed heavily. "And we're up to three victims...in the past two days," Pause. "Last night it-well it took a fourth person, hence the call," She gestured.

"What's the time-frame been for the others, between getting snatched and killed?" Sam inquires, eyebrows creased. He'd noticed she'd spoken in plural, but skimmed past the detail, storing it as a grammatical error.

"It's varied from three hours to ten. Hopefully, this one is the latter." It had to be, otherwise, Indiana would never be able to get past this. It was her fault, after all. All of it was. They should have never come here in the first place.

"Okay, that gives us some time," Dean tried to smile, eyes tired from the drive. When Indiana had called, the brothers hadn't exactly been in the vicinity. " Any idea where the victim was last seen? Name, people she was with?"

Here it was, the question she'd both hoped and prayed they would and wouldn't ask. "She was at a bar called 'The Jungle', just like all the others." She didn't need their pity, she scolded herself. She had to put up a solid front, stay strong. But who was she trying to fool? She wasn't strong, or brave, or fierce, or any other of the qualities hunters usually possessed. "Her name is Karen Leason, and she was with me."

Dean frowned, "Karen? As in your sister Karen?" He asked, perplexed. Oh, did he 'remember' Karen-good times. But now was not the time or place to be reminiscing on _those_ memories, not with her sister present. Especially with what he seemed to remember was her very prude and catholic sister.

Indiana nods, concentrating on keeping her tears at bay. Now was not the time to cry, she had to concentrate, work the case. For Karen.

Sam cleared his throat. Alright, this changed things. "Dean?" He shooted his brother a pointed look, for he seemed to have spaced out. Not the best reaction, nor the most professional.

"Two days? Maybe some sorta witchy ritual?" Dean suggested, gradually snapping out of it.

Sam nodded his agreement, "Could also be Wendigo, coming out of hibernation?" He added in.

"That's why I called you guys in. At first, I thought vampire, but...well I'm not so sure anymore," Indiana shrugged with a grim voice. Hunting, she'd established, was not her forte.

"First victim was found right over there," She pointed over at a tree, ten feet away. "Name was Carla Brenson, twenty-six years old. They found her three hours after her roommate reported her missing."

"Is there anything you've found that connects the vics?" Sam asked, just as Dean opened his mouth to say the same thing.

"Apart from the bar? Yeah, they were all blonde women in their twenties." It should have taken her, she also fitted the profile, she thought darkly.

"And you've already checked the place out?"

"Yeah, last night," She answered Dean. "Left five seconds to go the bathroom, when I came back Karen was gone. She wouldn't answer my calls or texts."

And that was when she'd called them.


	2. Chapter 2: The Jungle

"Okay, how about you tell us everything, from the beginning."

They were back in Indiana's motel room, both brothers sitting in the bed in front of hers- Karen's bed- whilst she sat in her own.

She looked at Sam, hands squirming in her lap and pulling at the hems of her jeans.

"As I said before- we were working a case. Karen," even saying her name out loud proved to be difficult, "she figured out the pattern. All the victims were female blondes, in their twenties, and at a bar called 'The Jungle'." She'd already said that, why did she have to say it again?

The bar was a cheap place, with plastic covered booths and lousy bathroom hygiene. It hadn't had too many customers, but perhaps that was more due to the fact that it'd been early evening when they'd gone to give the place a scoop.

Not exactly the prime time to be celebrating happy hour, although Indiana wasn't one to judge. Alcohol remained- and would always remain- a mystery to her.

"We-, _I_ didn't notice anything out of sorts- or anyone. The place seemed pretty normal for me." Yet again, she wasn't exactly an expert on bars- or normalcy.

She'd told them what'd happened, not leaving any details out- although a few personal comments were omitted to avoid judgment, she barely knew the brothers after all, and while she considered herself a friendly gal (didn't _that_ sound egotistical), hunters weren't exactly the type of crowd you wanted to get cozy with. Unless you desired a gruesome- and most definitely _painful_ \- death.

So yeah, Indiana may have skimmed past some details. The brothers didn't need to know that she felt sorry for the sleety dressed girl with what were probably some dubious life choices, or pity for the lonely looking man that'd sat in a corner, eyes sad and mouth grim.

"So," Sam sighed, hands clasping together as he looked at Dean. "Think checking out the place is worth the risk?"

Dean shrugged, moiling the proposition around in his head.

"Okay," he got up and straightened his leather jacket, "we're going. But _you_ stay here."

His finger was directed to Indiana.

"No way," she shook her head, "I'm coming with."

"Like hell you are." Dean sighed, and then, tone going softer, "Look, Indiana, I get it. Your sister is gone and you want to find her, and that's great. But in case you haven't realized, you also happen to fit the profile. Which means that I can't risk you disappearing." He looked at Sam, searching for a backup.

"Dean's right. You called us for a reason, so just- let us do our job, okay?" Sam agreed, also getting up.

Indiana thought of insisting, on arguing their point, but the fact was- they were right. She said it before, and she'd say it again; she wasn't hunter material. So really, what was the point of her going with them? She'd just be a nuisance, get in the way.

Yet, this was Karen. Her little sister who'd gone missing, and if Indiana didn't do anything and everything in her power to find her...she knew she'd pay for it for the rest of her life. And she couldn't have that weight on her conscious.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid I'll have to insist."

* * *

They ended up letting Indiana join them, albeit very begrudgingly. Dean had especially been clear on what he thought of her tagging along, muttering to his brother that he was a softie for letting her change his opinion.

But Indiana didn't care, or at least she didn't give any indication that it did.

Karen was the only thing that mattered right now, which was funny, considering the last real conversation they'd had (idle bar chatter didn't count), had been rather unpleasant, with both parties- Karen more than her- saying some pretty harsh things.

" _You're not my mother. You're not even my sister!"_

Things that wouldn't be easily forgotten, and had she not gone missing, Indiana would bet that they currently wouldn't be on speaking terms.

" _So what, now you're stealing her insults too?"_

Still, all things considered- she was still worried...and maybe a bit mad, but this wasn't the time nor place for resentment. That could wait until her sister was found, which she would be of course.

No doubt.

So, like she said, Dean was grumpy. His face had a perfect scowl adorning its features, and he stuck to speaking to Indiana a strict minimum- which was barely at all.

The door to the bar jingled opened, and the bartender- a young man that had flirted with Karen the previous night- looked up in silent expectation once he spotted the blonde, clearly hoping her younger- and much prettier- sister followed.

Indiana was sorry to disappoint.

The Winchesters took a seat at a table, one near the door that would receive little gusts of wind from time to time. Indiana shivered as she sat down.

The Brothers didn't waste time; scanning the place, the people, the layout. They worked in silence, only communicating in discreet looks that Indiana couldn't for the life of her decipher.

She got bored soon, legs jostling in a nervous beat.

After some time, Sam coughed and leaned in. "Don't look, but there's a man behind you that hasn't taken his eyes off you since we sat down." His tone was calm, clearly not wanting her to panic.

That didn't stop her from doing just that, as being told you were watched wasn't pleasant news.

Ignoring her increasing heart rate, she scratched her arm and ran a hand through her hair, using the opportunity to turn her neck the slightest of bits, hoping to catch a glimpse of the guy.

She liked to think she'd been discreet.

She wasn't.

"I think he was here last night." She hadn't gotten a good look, but something about him seemed familiar to her.

Dean reached into his back pocket, fishing his car keys from inside.

"Here," He dangled them over the table. "Take these, slowly get up, announce you're going out to get something from the car and that you'll be back in a few."

She frowned before getting what he was saying. "Are you crazy? Look, if this guy follows me...I don't know how to defend myself! Wha- what if he attacks me?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "Relax. Sam and I will follow."

"You're sure?" She hated the tremble that overtook her words, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't brave, at all. Perhaps not a coward, but definitely overly precautious.

And precaution was anything but this.

Protests were on the tip of her tongue, waiting to spill from her lips, spewing all the things that could go wrong, when she thought of Karen. Her little sister Karen- who was gone, and it was her fault- hers- and if there was anything she could do to help she had to, there was no choice.

She was still petrified though.

The keys jostled against her hand and she fumbled with them briefly before rising.

"I'm just gonna grab something from the car real quick. I'll be back in a second."

She left before logic could consume her.

Her heart was thudding painfully loud in her chest, she could actually hear the blood coursing through her veins, and her stomach was in a twist. She felt like throwing up.

She didn't, thank god, and before she knew it she was in the parking lot searching for Dean's car, which she had no idea on what it looked like, she realized with a pang.

Indiana didn't know anything about cars (they terrified her, in fact, even though she was twenty-five she didn't know how to drive) and thus had no idea as to what car key logos went with what car brand.

Thankfully, although she wasn't very thankful at all, she was grasped before she could stand looking like a complete idiot for too long by the man who'd, predictably, followed her.

Her heart nearly burst out as her body was turned, but before anything happened to her Sam and Dean appeared, Dean going for the man and Sam to check on her.

"You okay?" The younger brother asked as Dean apprehended their suspect.

Indiana nodded briefly. She did not want to do that ever again. She'd had enough excitement to last her a lifetime.

"Yeah, just fine," she lied, shooting him a half-hearted smile.

She needed to use the bathroom. Like, right now.

Of course, now was not the time for a bladder run.

So, ignoring the pressure on her lower abdomen, she brought her attention back to the situation at hand- the creep who'd followed her out here.

Upon closer inspection, she does recognize the man's features.

He'd been there the night before, she was sure of it, and not only that but she was sure he'd also been gone after her bathroom run - yet again her bladder demanding attention.

She really needed to learn how to control bathroom necessities.

The Winchesters at least hadn't wasted any time. Shielding themselves between two cars, they tested their suspect with the basics.

But whispering 'Christo', brazing him with silver or even checking his mouth for fangs...none of it seemed to gather a reaction from the man other than extreme confusion and perhaps the smallest trace of fear.

Indiana couldn't blame him, the situation was a bit weird - even for her, and she knew what was happening.

He seemed, by all means, human.

Unless he was working with monsters in his free time, then he wasn't what they'd been looking for. Somehow, the fact that he was just like her didn't reassure Indiana in the least.

Humans could be a messed up bunch too, even if they lacked the excuse of natural instincts like werewolves and vampires.

There was a silent exchange between the three hunters (well, more like two hunters and a third reluctant wannabe hunter). It seemed like they were just going to let him go, even if he'd followed Indiana out here, even if she was sure he'd been there last night and then disappeared.

Seeing no other option before her, Indiana interrupted the brothers continued silent conversation to which she was still not privy.

"Where's my sister?" Her voice started out calm enough but verged to a quiver on the last word.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" The guy yelled back, clutching his injured forearm.

It wasn't the answer she was looking for, so she asked again, "Where's. My. Sister."

"I don't know!"

"No, you do!" She took a menacing step forward without realizing it. She'd never yelled at someone, much less a stranger, like that. It was oddly empowering.

"You do because last night she was here, and you were here. And I left for two minutes - two minutes! - and when I came back you were both gone. Both of you. Not to mention how weird it is that you'd just follow me out here. Now, that seems too much like a coincidence for it to be _just_ that."

She never felt so brave yet scary before.

The man closed his eyes slowly and sighed. "Look, girl, I really don't know."

She didn't appreciate being called a girl - she was a woman, okay? She bled once a month as proof.

But, he seemed sincere, oddly enough, and Indiana felt a little like an idiot for having lost her temper.

"But I did follow her out here. She was making suggestive gestures from over at the bar and then she got up and left." He picked up his pace upon seeing Indiana's now bordering on murderous glare, that she was trying - and failing- to mask.

She still wasn't sure at who she should direct it, the man or Dean's infuriating smirk.

Probably both.

"She wasn't there when I came out. I swear, she was gone and I have no idea where she went - no idea, I swear!"

She'd believe him, she really would, except Karen would never - _never_ \- make suggestive gestures _of any kind_ to some random guy at a bar.

She was sure of that. And it wasn't because Karen was her sister, her little sister, and she refused to believe she'd ever be anything but perfect because she could very well imagine Rachel doing just that.

It just...didn't fit.

And she couldn't shake off the feeling, that gut feeling that no one knows how it works yet you're supposed to always listen to, that was telling her, no -screaming at her; There's something you're missing here.

But she didn't know what she was missing.

And she somehow doubted she'd figure it out anytime in the near future.

She missed her sister. Very much.

* * *

They eventually let the man go - Indiana wasn't really sure if it'd been the right decision but she trusted the Winchesters judgment.

They had been doing this for much longer than her after all. Experience over something else she couldn't remember, right?

"So, what now?"

They were once again back in her motel room.

"I don't know," Sam rubbed his face. "I mean, I don't know Karen, at all, and I don't want to offend you but...I mean - are you sure she wouldn't just leave? That maybe, I don't know - she needed some time for herself?"

"I'm positive." Indiana didn't hesitate with her answer. "She wouldn't just leave - leave _me_ \- like that, not without saying goodbye or anything. Never."

Even if they'd had a fight. Even if they'd been mad.

Dean nodded from his perched position against the table.

"Well, we still have a case here so, how about we stay and do that, and you go home, Indiana?"

"I don't think-"

"We'll keep you posted," he interrupted her. "Anything comes up - we'll call."

She opened her mouth to argue but wasn't given the time to speak...again.

"Look, and don't take this the wrong way, but you're not a hunter. If you stay, you'll probably get hurt, or more, and I, personally, don't want that on my conscious. Besides, you can't find your sister if you're dead."

He had a point. A good, valid point.

So, besides not really wanting to, she shut her mouth and agreed.

She should probably get home and tell their dad what had happened at some point anyways. And Rachel.

She deserved to know too. Although that was _not_ a conversation she was looking forward to.

And while she was at it, she should probably also call the police - just in case, the standard twenty-four hours had passed by.

Her things were all packed up already (she'd barely unpacked) and she had enough money on her for the bus ride back.

She'd call the rental place for the car they - _she_ \- was leaving behind.

"You guys can stay here the night if you want. Rooms already paid for till morning."

She spotted Karen's pajamas and started packing up all her things, putting them back in her suitcase whilst she sought out a way to break the news to her father in her head.

"Sounds good," Dean said, heading towards the bed she'd vacated and lying down. She'd forgotten the long ride they'd probably made to get to her as quickly as they had.

Sam shot her a small smile, simply saying, "Thanks."

"No problem." She was getting ready to leave, already tired of the rooms reminders and wanting to leave it all behind as soon as possible now that it was an option when she remembered something.

"Can I have your phone number? I have Dean's but...you know, just in case he doesn't pick up or anything, it'd be nice to have a backup."

Dean grunted in protest, probably offended or something, not that she cared.

She handed Sam her phone and when all was typed in, she left the brothers with another 'thank you' and a reminder to keep her informed.

Once outside, she fished the bus timetable from her bag and upon seeing she had a good half hour left till the next one, she decided to just call Rachel and get it over with.

Waiting for her older sister to pick up, she fumbled with her coat. Here went nothing.

God, she was not looking forward to this.


End file.
